Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Operation Pallial recently received an email, via a third party, from someone asking why some people were told about the Public Report being published in advance of April 29, while others with an interest in abuse in North Wales had not been contacted. We do not have a reply address to respond directly to the person, so felt it might be useful to share more generally what we are doing to keep those currently in contact with us, as victims or witnesses, informed. We thank those who have agreed to share this message with others who may be interested in Operation Pallial and we hope it also reaches the original person who contacted us.

Message from Ian Mulcahey, the police officer in charge of Operation Pallial.

While I am not able to confirm personal details of any individuals who may or may not have been contacted by members of Operation Pallial, for obvious reasons, I would like to share with you the basis on which we currently share or issue information.

Firstly, no information was provided to any victims in advance of the arrest of a man in Suffolk, as it would not be appropriate to announce police action publicly before it had taken place. We did issue a media release after the arrest and again after the man had been interviewed, to confirm that he was being released on bail while we continue to investigate.

As an investigation, following consultation with a number of organisations who represent or support victims, we were encouraged to provide victims who had come forward to Operation Pallial with advanced access to the Public Report on Progress, which was published on April 29.

We contacted everyone who had come forward to report abuse to us since November last year and informed them, in confidence, of the date and time that the report would be made public and how they could access and read it a few hours in advance if they wished to do so.

We have received positive feedback from victims, who appreciated being given advanced warning of the publicity generated by the report, together with an opportunity to see it; rather than hear extracts reported in the news media and online.

We were not selective in informing only a few of those who came forward; in fact we reached the vast majority of individuals in the week before the report was published.

If anyone feels, as a group or individually, that they would like more engagement with us, I would be happy to discuss this. Alternatively, you can approach the Children's Commissioner for Wales, the NSPCC, Victim Support or the Chair of North Wales Police's Independent Advisory Group and discuss your needs with them. All of these organisations and individuals meet regularly with myself and other members of Operation Pallial and we welcome feedback on all aspects of the investigation, including our communications.

We will continue to keep victims and witnesses as informed as possible throughout the investigation. Clearly there will be occasions, such as arrests, where this will not be possible.

Monday, 27 May 2013

An old law may stop women in England and Wales, who were groomed for sex as teenage girls before 2004, from bringing charges against the people who took advantage of them. The issue was highlighted when two women were told they could not press charges because they did not report the abuse to the police within 12 months of it happening.

Confident and successful, Sylvie (not her real name) now works in a high-powered job.

She is far removed from her teenage self, when she was exploited for sex during a naive and impressionable time of her life.

As she reflects on that period, her anger about what happened becomes apparent.

She was 14 when a teacher started inviting her to his home. "I liked him so I was happy just to go, thinking that I was going to hang out," she told Radio 4's The Report.

"I thought that maybe he was going to be my boyfriend. He had a girlfriend but I sort of disregarded that. I could tell that he liked me. So I went to his house with that in mind."

This was back in the 1990s and initially she spent a lot of time with the man just watching television. But it quite quickly became more physical.

"I had a bit of a crush on him so I went along with that. And he did it quite gradually - it all went in baby steps."

Things escalated over the next six months as the teacher built up her trust until eventually she had sex with him.

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

"Coz you're a dirty nonce nigger!" I snarled back at him, bracing for the impact that usually accompanied such comments.

Instead he just folded his hands into his lap and smiled. "We have an offer of a place in another facility for you. You would still be registered as living here, but you would spend 5 days there. You have to have an interview first of course, make sure you're suitable. But I sure a girl so determined to leave here is resourceful enough to gain entry anywhere."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch," he replied, "Your Mum has even expressed a wish for you to spend some time back at home, so we were considering allowing you to attend the school in Macclesfield and then return home each weekend. If that goes smoothly, we could look at signing you out of care and back home."

He stood, smoothing his jacket and looked at me, "When will you learn girl?" He shook his head as he leaned towards me. His hand gripped my throat tightly, my already damaged lungs struggling to gasp air as his hand slowly crushed my windpipe. "There ain't no escaping me til I say you can go!" he screamed.

As footsteps came quickly along the hallway, he released his grip on my throat. The bedroom door flung open and Joyce gave Mr P a withering look as she began fussing over my blankets and pillow.

"I told you she was resting."

"And I told you the little bitch would be fine. Now get her back on her feet woman and out of my Home."

As the door closed on Joyce's argument with Phillips, I felt relieved. They were letting me out of there. Didn't matter what kind of school, it was out of hell. All I had to do was survive long enough to get accepted. As sleep crept up on me again, I wondered what kind of place it really was....

As the days dragged on, I fell into a routine of checking every morning and evening with Staff to see if I could get any more details about the placement they had dangled in front of me whilst I was ill.

Gradually, they let details slip, just to keep me quiet. It took two weeks to discover that the facility was a Young People's Unit in Macclesfield. A Child Mental Facility, designed for maladjusted youngsters that lacked inter-personal skills enough to prosper in "normal" schools, children's homes and other facilities. It was the last chance saloon for delinquents and mini-whackjobs.

As the weeks dragged on, my 15th birthday came and went without much notice. I did a couple of “disappearing acts” but nothing more than the odd night on a mates couch or crawling in at 3am puking my guts up on the shiny-clean hallway floor coz I'd been bought too many drinks – and tried to drink them all!

Again!

I think it was around this time a couple of us had booked, through the youth club, to go to Birmingham NEC to see Alice Cooper.

Myself and 'R' were both at Grammar school.

Both knew we were far more intelligent than the imbeciles “looking after” us. As 'R' said to me recently “Makes it hard work for you as a child when you can out fox both parents by the time you are 8.”

We were both bored of the whole “conformity” BS.

We wanted to rebel.

Skircoat agreed to pay for us to go to this gig. Great, one over on the bstrds. We get something nobody else in the Home is gonna get. 3 weeks away, but hey... it was gonna happen!

With 8 hours to go before we were due to set off for the gig, I decided to go out and get hammered. I crawled back to Skircoat with just about enough time to get changed and get on the minibus.

Miss Brunning blocked my entry to the building and I was instantly grounded.

'M' went in my place.

Apparently it was a fantastic gig, apart from when somebody pointed out to Security that 'R' + 'M' were “Care kids” and they were shoved up the front with a few disabled people. As Alice Cooper took to the stage, they nearly got crushed by the crowd, but all in all, a good night, not to be missed. *cheers 'R'....

They did at least remember to bring me back a T-shirt *mumble, grumble, fkin moan

I began to give up hope of Macclesfield, although I'd already started staying at my Mum's each weekend so life was bearable. At least I wasn't running a risk of being included on the "Flat list" any more. I would go home on the Friday, then go to the pub, crawl home late Friday night, pass out, rinse n repeat til I had to return to Skircoat.It was some time around March when my Social Worker turned up, with my Mum in the car and announced we were headed for Macclesfield. My assessment day was finally here.It was a single storey building, Very clinical-looking, both inside and out. The Dr's and other staff all seemed friendly and welcoming. I can't remember much of my assessment, it flowed over me, as I sat there somewhat in shock that there were actually some nice people involved in the care of children. After the staff attitudes at Skircoat things were looking up. I was accepted as a "student" at the Y.P.U and my Social Worker set about the paperwork.My last few days at Skircoat flew by, as I packed and said my goodbyes to people. Explained to some of the younger kids that I would be back every Friday teatime to collect my train fares, before going to my Mum's for the weekends. So they would still see me, I wasn't leaving, I just wouldn't be there.Macclesfield was a 5-day Unit. Residents presented themselves on Monday morning, unpacked and got settled in before lessons started. The school was also used by the Macclesfield Education Panel as a depository for their own delinquents, catering for around 20 "outpatient" students along with the 14 residents.Classes included the basics along with Art therapy and psychodrama.Throughout the week there were individual and group therapy sessions, although I was quickly excluded from group therapy after being deemed an "antagonistic aggressor" which I took to mean "arsey lil bstrd". We all helped out in the kitchen with food preparation. My main job was scrambled eggs each morning, for breakfast.I was given that task after I complained about the watery eggs they made. I was told "If you can do better, get in there and do it." So I did. After the first morning of decent eggs, I found my name on the roster every morning for the kitchen.There were regular Community meetings to make sure we felt included in the decision making that would ultimately affect us. Any problems were aired and dealt with at these meetings, so we could all see action was being taken, issues were being solved and we were in a certain amount of control of our own lives. For the first time, I felt almost Adult with the level of consultation each of us was given.The only problem I foresaw was the reluctance of staff to allow a resident off the property alone, before Friday. If you wanted to go to the shop, everyone had to go. It was a group event. No staff accompanied us, just the residents, with the longest term in charge of the rest of us.Now I'm older, I can see the sense in this as a team-building exercise but at the time it just seemed bloody stupid.Thursday night was movie night. 14 residents all sprawled out in the lounge watching a video which more often than not, turned out to be Dirty Dancing. I soon learned to hate that film.Friday after classes, we would all go to our rooms, pack our stuff for the weekend and head off to Macc centre for the train home.I would get off the train in Halifax every friday afternoon and head up to Skircoat Lodge, collect my pocket money and my train fare for the next week, along with bus fare up to my Mum's. Say Hi to whoever was around when I arrived, spend a few minutes catching up with what had gone on through the week and then head out again, back into town and straight to the Upper George pub.<Part 6Further reading: http://brynalynvictims.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/macclesfield-young-persons-unit.html

Monday, 20 May 2013

A brave, but anonymous victim left a comment on a post relating to Malcolm Osric Phillips and I felt their story needed sharing with the world.This is the man that they are letting walk free, despite there having been mention of Indecent Exposure this year, when I was speaking with the CPS about him last week.It was November 1983 when I was taken to Skircoat Lodge. My grandfather had died in the May and I went "out of control". I always played my grandparents and Dad up but if I had known what the future would hold for me I never would have be un ruly at home. Linda Brunning, Evil as they come. I lost count of the amount of times she would sit on the back of my kneck until the blood vessels in my face burst then I would be watched by her or Phillips while I had a bath. Humiliating doesn't cut it!! But what Phillips would go onto do to me was the most sickening and depraved act of violence. I was taken into care because I had been abused and was to give evidence at crown court against my abuser. My bad behaviour became unbearable for my family so Skircoat Lodge seemed to best option, in their eyes and my then social worker, Jackie Hanson. Phillips took away my dignity, self-respect and marked the beginning of the end for me emotionally and psychologically. Of course I ran away from Skircoat, I too was in the 6 bed dorm. Out the window and along skircoat into Halifax. Straight into the police station to report the rape. But I was called a liar, taken back to skircoat where phillips and the night officer were waiting. Need I say what my punishment was..NO!! That bastard ruined my life. I have never to this day been able to hold a steady relationship, abusive ones, yes, happy and stable, NO!!! In 1997 the police contacted me completely out of the blue about my time at Skircoat Lodge, It hit me like a bolt of lightening. I reluctantly agreed to talk to them. I had buried the memories of that god forsaken place firmly in the back of my mind. In the end I finally blurted out the words that Phillips had raped me. He was charged but then a few months down the line Maggie Fox, the police woman who visited me said there were discrepencies in my statement. WTF???? I know what happened to me, what phillips, brunning, wright, Shalders and all those other animals did to me. Sexually (Phillips) and physically but even in 1997 because I could not remember exact details I was accused of lying about phillips. The case against him raping me was dropped and again, I was accused of lying by the police. Yet all my explanations of his scent, his control, his habitual bullying was believed. My agreeing to talk to the police tore my relationship with my family apart. My own brother even gave evidence for the defense counsil of Phillips. un f*****g believable. My life is destroyed because of Skircoat Lodge and Calderdale social services and Phillips gets away with Raping and abusing me for over 18 months. Brunning will get her commupance one day and the only consolation for me is that Shalders is rotting in Hell, where he belongs and if he isn't already then I have the satisfaction of knowing that one day, sooner rather than later, Phillips, Brunning and Pam Wright, (Now Helliwell) will be heading for the same fate.*Editor: Jackie Hanson is name I remember from Social Services. She usually dealt with the youngest children who were in Skircoat Lodge, or faced with going into Residential Care. All the kids I can remember having her, were all under 8 yr old. Although there may have been some older ones.

Leon Brittan and the Paedophile Information Exchange

Leon Brittan became Margaret Thatcher’s Home Secretary on 11th June 1983. Not long after starting in the role, he came under pressure to ban an organisation called the Paedophile Information Exchange.

The Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE, campaigned to have the age of consent reduced to 4 years old, which would have effectively legalised paedophilia. PIE published a contacts page in its newsletter with a PO Box number, so paedophiles across the UK and abroad could forge links and trade tips on how to access children, and how to obtain images of child abuse. This was how organised paedophile networks developed in the UK, and helps to explain how paedophiles ended up infiltrating so many schools, children’s homes, and other institutions. By the early 1980s PIE had over 1000 members, including people in prominent and powerful positions in the British Establishment such as diplomats, MPs, aristocrats, intelligence agents, teachers, and child protection experts.

Friday, 17 May 2013

As it says, paedo networksPaedo Networksupdated.Now with Royalty on list!!We have quite a list growing now, including the first female on the list, Glynis Parry, vice president of CHE. paedo sympathiser. Lived in grounds of Oakwood hospital Maidstone.

Thursday, 16 May 2013

At around 5pm, there was a knock on the caravan door."D, your date's here!""He's early, tell 'im to piss off!"We both giggled and she opened the door.I was introduced to a lad about 19yr old, Neil. He seemed fine, although I was going to make no snap judgements. These guys were, after all, criminals living in a bail hostel..... yeah, and we're runaways living in a caravan came back the retort in my mind. Silently I berated the voice.D's "date" for the evening was a 20 yr old called Gary.Apparently both guys, brothers, had been caught mid-burglary of a nonce's house. They were due to remain in the Hostel for only another 2 weeks, while their flat was being made ready for new tenants. We also learned our benefactor was called Raymond. He had been released 2 months prior, having served 3 years for violence.

Will start writing again in the coming days, so I figured a quick recap was appropriate.Skircoat Lodge, the story so far...An athletic black man that automatically controlled a room simply with his presence, Malcolm Osric Phillips seemed to command respect under any circumstance. He always presented himself as a poised, level, even tempered sort of gentleman.Nothing about the way he carried himself suggested he wouldn't think twice about rugby tackling a 14 year old girl from across the room, or pinning a child to the wall by the throat simply for ...... being.His hair whilst speckled grey, belied very little of his true age in the first few months of my time in Skircoat Lodge, although that changed quite rapidly as time progressed.Phillips Needed to be in control. If something wasn't quite right for him, we all suffered, staff and kids alike. About the only person he doted on was his 8 yer old daughter Emma.

He was slightly above 6". I know that because my dad is 6" exact and Phillips always puffed himself up in front of men similar size, kind of the way a peacock does. There again, it was a habit my dad also favoured so the few times I remember my dad returning me to Skircoat Lodge, I got a brief comedy sketch before the punishments kicked in for the absconding from whence I had just been returned.

I remember my first night in Skircoat Lodge....my first night in Care.....

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

After making my formal statement I believed I would get a formal decision at some point as to what action would be taken in regard to the abuse I sustained in Halifax Children's Homes.
Other victims I know of have, generally, received letters from the relevant Police force a few weeks after making their statement, so I sat back to wait.
Then last month I got a phone call from Halifax Safeguarding Team informing me that there would be No Further Action in these matters as the files on Operation Screen had been sealed in 2000 and could not be unsealed as it had been a joint Operational decision between the CPS and the Chief Inspector at the time.

I requested the decision in writing and was told by the DC that she would ask.
She then rang me back the following day to say it had to be a verbal only decision. I complained bitterly and on the Friday I received a third phone call from the Safeguarding Team. This time it was a D.I Lord who telephoned to yet again inform me that a decision had been made in regard to the crimes committed against me when I was a child, I had been informed of that decision and now needed to move on. I asked for the decision to be put in writing as I felt I hadn't been able to fully take in their reasons over the phone and needed time to read and process that decision. I was then informed that they "don't have time to write letters, there's criminals to catch." and the phone call was abruptly ended.

Rather peeved at this, I contacted my local MP Jason McCartney (Colne Valley) and asked him to see if he could find out why I was getting different treatment to other victims. "Different forces, different policies" he replied "but I shall ask."

Last week I received a letter from Jason McCartney MP, along with his response from the Safeguarding unit.

In reply I can tell you that Detective Inspector Lord at Calderdale CID had a lengthy telephone conversation with Ms Karen Gray regarding the decision not to proceed with her case. Also informing her that although the decision had been made not to put the decision into writing he would be prepared to speak to any legal representative should she wish to seek legal advise.

At this stage the decision remains the same.

Yours faithfully
Sharon Hewitt
DS 5120
Calderdale Safeguarding Unit.

Now, as some of you may have noticed..... I'm kinda okay on research. I set my mind on a task and generally keep at it til it's finished or my mind gets bored and wanders off until my feet follow it.

A decision taken not to prosecute a serious offence would have to be supported
by very clear reasons. For example, depending on the seriousness of the
offence, it may be decided that a prosecution is not in the public interest if:
● it would have a negative effect on the physical or mental health of the
victim;
● the suspect is very old; and/or
● the suspect was, at the time of the offence, suffering from serious mental
or physical ill health.
All these issues are meant to be weighed against the seriousness of the
offence
.
You should be told by the CPS Prosecutor whether or not the suspect is to be
charged within 24 hours of the decision being made. Decisions in cases of rape
are taken by specialist Prosecutors.

If the CPS decides not to charge him with an offence the suspect will have no
further action taken against him (sometimes referred to as being NFA’d). The
case will then be closed but information relating to the investigation should be
kept in case further evidence is obtained or he commits further offences.
When the CPS informs you that they are not able to charge the suspect, they
should offer to meet with you to discuss their decision. If, following a meeting,

you disagree with the decision taken by the CPS Prosecutor you may be able
to challenge the decision through judicial review proceedings in the High
Court. The time limit for applying for judicial review is three months. You will
need specialist legal advice and representation to do this.
---------------

I had to wait three weeks to get my verbal decision as, according to the Officer handling my case, she had been on holiday for two weeks.

Now yes, the decision has had a serious effect on my already unstable Mental Health.
Yes, one of the Accused is 80 yrs old.

I have since rung the CPS who have no record of a file containing my name being passed to the CPS this year. They advised me to either report the matter to the Police or see C.A.B for free legal advise.

There was mention of an "indecent exposure" charge whilst the woman was searching for the name of one of my physical and mental abusers that traded me to a paedophile ring, but she quickly changed the subject on that.

Monday, 13 May 2013

Derek Slade, a former boarding school headteacher, has been jailed for 21 years for sexually and physically abusing boys at schools in Wicklewood, Norfolk and Great Finborough, Suffolk at St Georges School.

This saga has taken a further twist with allegations in the Daily Mail that Slade 'escaped police for years using an alias with the knowledge of a politician at the heart of Britain's justice system'.

The report alleges that Derek Sawyer, a former leader of Islington Council and now head of the London Region Courts Board, helped Slade maintain a fake identity after Slade was first convicted of abuse in the 1980s. It also states that Sawyer and Slade jointly set up a limited company - International British Educational Projects - that allowed Slade to work with vulnerable children under his false name and with a fake CV.

Sunday, 12 May 2013

Another brave blogger speaking out about his abuse during childhood.Ok, here goes....

I’m going to “cut to the chase” and give you the headline as it were and then I’m going to give you the background surrounding the whole situation.

You will have to bear with me as this will no doubt flick back and forth through time as I recall it, but all the facts will be here.

On April the 11th last year, I finally faced the demons that had haunted me for 30 years and confronted/revealed the fact that I was sexually abused as a child-by my dad.

I had long kept hidden this secret for various reasons- fear of not being believed, fear of the pain it would cause to everyone around me and had never breathed a word to a living soul having convinced myself long ago that it would never ever come out.

Ever since it happened, I have harboured nothing but contempt and hatred for my dad and have always taken every single opportunity I could to take digs at him as I always felt that would be my only way of getting at him as I was convinced I would never reveal the real reasons why.

As some are aware, a friend of mine has chosen in the past to share some of her experiences, very bravely, with the use of this blog.
Today she has found the courage to do so again with her take on Police Attitudes toward historic Child Sexual Abuse.

Why I wont engage with pallial

November last year was a scary time for me, emotionally and physically and mentally. One Sunday morning I logged onto the BBC website, and there it was, the breaking news of the scale of abuse in North Wales Children's Homes. I was at first shocked that finally it was out there, and upset at the same time because I knew what lay ahead.

As someone who has been through the care system my experience of sexual abuse is different from yours, my abusers were paid to take care of me, as well as sexually abusing me, they physically and mentally abused me also. My abusers all knew each other and protected each other. As a 12 year old I had worked that out. I accept abuse is abuse, rape is rape, if you haven’t been in care, you wont have been made available to paedophiles, and when you were older and you felt brave enough to confront not only what happened to you, but to inform the police, they disbelieve you. The Police in my opinion in 1999 starting point was that your lying, that your to damaged to be believed. Add to that, what people like me have been saying since the 1960’s this abuse was organized, wide spread, and as our abusers told us, we would never be believed., I knew I was the victim of state sponsored child abuse, because the authorities knew and did nothing about it, therefore my abuse was expected. I was told in 1999, when one of my abusers was still alive, that as I had been given cigarettes by one, this legally was judged to me a contract between us, he had paid me for raping me, I was 12 years old. So I then, for me any justice would have to wait, attitudes would need to change, and maybe the law itself would change. So when I read those headlines that Sunday, I thought the time had come.

Thursday, 9 May 2013

On July 11, 1998, the NGO Morkhoven flushes the godfather of micro networks Ganumedes (88) and Temse / Madeira (98). Gerrit Ulrich did produce photographs and films of real crimes against children, which he sells via the Internet to pornographic magazines, as from Zandvoort, Holland. He hands over 93,081 samples to the NGO. Three months later, Holland has more reason to attend the first international police operation to fight this new type of criminality...

Operation Cathedral

Orchid, Wonderland & Zandvoort

Par Jacqueline de Croÿ - 24-01-2005 - updated 07-11-2010

In 1996, San Jose, California, a girl aged 10 years was abused by the father of a friend of hers, at whose home she had spent the night. The man had one of the first webcam, which at the time was considered a "sophisticated computer equipment for filming and live broadcasting of films via the Internet." The investigation leads to the "Orchid", the first known network of online and real-time images of real crime on children. They are twenty-three members, approved by the descriptions of sexual abuse perpetrated on children personally, in a password secure chat room. They exchange photographs, some of which are made with the first digital cameras connected to computers.

The abuse on the little girl had been broadcasted live in nine American states and four countries: Finland, Canada, Australia and England. The youngest victim, aged five, had been filmed while undergoing specific abuse requested by at least eleven men.

Three British members of the Orchid network led Scotland Yard to "Wonderland", a network of 180 members spanning 46 countries. Every candidate at the club must be appointed, approved and made from 10,000 photographs of actual crimes different from those of other members. Each member pays a minimum fee of $ 100 per month to access a file encrypted by the network with a code developed by the former KGB. The system is identical to that of Zandvoort: the photographs are available per batch, whose price depend on the seriousness of the crime photographed, to be published in porn magazines.

In London, a new unit called "British National Crime Squad" rises with the help of Interpol, the U.S. Customs, the British National Criminal Intelligence Service, the first international police operation, which is code-named "Cathedral", with only twelve of the forty-six countries involved: Belgium, France, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Italy, Great Britain, Australia and the United States. Holland is excused, since the NGO Morkhoven had dismantled the Zandvoort network few months earlier.

On September 2, 1998, the British National Crime Squad coordinates 1,500 police officers, who arrested 107 members of the Wonderland network simultaneously to 4:00 am. They seized 750,000 paedophile pictures and 1,800 videos, in which 1,263 children were featured - but only 17 have been identified. The report of the Australian National Crime Authority specifies that the Wonderland network is linked to local and international paedophile organizations, including the network Spartacus, itself a partner of the Zandvoort network. The survey showed that both the Wonderland and Zandvoort networks sold the production of Jean-Manuel Vuillaume, photographer and video producer paedophile pictures for the network Toro Bravo, active between France and Colombia.

We pay tribute to Marcel Vervloesem, who has dismantled the Zandvoort network on the behalf of the NGO Morkhoven unarmed, without violence or any other means than his strength of conviction. He has, by his sole work, exposed over 93,000 criminal photos and videos, while the 1500 police officers of Operation Cathedral have only contributed to the seizure of 500 of them each.

Age of consent should be lowered to 13 to stop persecution of old men and sex assault victims SHOULDN'T get anonymity, says leading barrister

Barbara Hewson is a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London

She described Operation Yewtree arrests as a 'grotesque spectacle'

Claimed disgraced Stuart Hall's crimes were 'low level misdemeanors'

NSPCC said her 'outdated and simply ill-informed' views 'beggars belief'

The age of consent for sex should be lowered to 13-years-old in a bid to end the 'persecution of old men' in the wake of the Savile sex abuse scandal, a top female barrister has argued.

Lawyer Barbara Hewson described the arrests of celebrities such as Rolf Harris, Dave Lee Travis, Jim Davidson and PR guru Max Clifford under Operation Yewtree as a 'grotesque spectacle' adding it had 'nothing to do with justice or the public interest'.

Ms Hewson, a barrister at Hardwicke chambers in London, described the crimes committed by disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall as 'low level misdemeanours' which would not normally be prosecuted.

In an article for online magazine Spiked, Ms Hewson, who specialises in reproductive rights, also calls for the end of anonymity for complainants.

Children’s charity the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said to hear such 'outdated and simply ill-informed' views from a highly-experienced barrister 'beggars belief'.

Her comments come as Scotland Yard runs Operation Yewtree, an investigation split into three inquiries into allegations involving deceased presenter Jimmy Savile, involving Savile and others and those involving just others.

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Following on from the Exarostory today, the first that addresses the child pornography dimension, it is time to remind readers of one important but by no means the only, major player. That is Spartacus , John Stamford, Peter Glencross, and their connection to Elm Guest House.

Peter Righton was well-connected in child care circles, and several people he knew who worked in the field were later convicted of abuse. For example, there was Rod Ryall, with whom Righton had sat on various committees. Ryall was director of social services at Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire and was sentenced to six years for indecent assault on two boys. But the police failed to find evidence of a paedophile ring.

As with PIE, it is not Righton’s direct role that is important to this story but the influence he was able to wield over the social work profession and society at large. Righton was quite open about his views. In 1977, for example, in an article in Social Work Today, he was quoted as saying that sex between workers and residents in homes was OK. “Provided there is no question of exploitation, sexual relationships freely entered into by residents – including adolescents – should not be a matter for automatic enquiry. Nor should a sexual relationship between a resident and a worker be grounds for automatic dismissal.” The story was picked up in the Daily Mirror but no action was taken against him by NISW.

Rod Ryall took office of Assistant Director of Social Services in Calderdale in 1974, having left Birmingham.

In 1988, at Leeds Crown Court, Roderick Ryall admitted four offences of indecent assault, two of gross indecency and a serious sexual assault charge.Ryall, 68, of Wheatley Drive, Mirfield, West Yorkshire, had denied 10 counts of indecent assault on three children in the 1960s and 1970s

Malcolm Osric PhillipsPhillips arrived in Calderdale from Birmingham in 1976.He had been housemaster for four years at an establishment for boys aged 12-17.He qualified on a training course for social workers (believed to have been Righton's course) and took up the post of principal at Skircoat Lodge in 1976.He remained there until 1994.He was dismissed by Calderdale Council in 1996.

Andrew James ShaldersShalders arrived in Calderdale in 1976 from Birmingham where he had worked with Phillips, and took up the post of care worker at Skircoat Lodge.18 months later he was appointed senior residential social worker.In 1985 he was suspended after allegations were made by a number of boys but was reinstated a month later.In 1988 he moved from Children s Services to Adult Services and worked with people with learning difficulties.He was arrested in December 1997 and suspended by Calderdale Council.

The Good Guys

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